Hats & scarves are finished!

Finally - here is the happy result of a month and a half of knitting and crocheting kids' and teens' hats and scarves:  

As much as I enjoyed making all the above, it's very good to be finished.  

In the end, there were two or three hats that didn't make the grade, but those provided some good learning experiences and that counts for something.

Now they all just need size labels attached and to be dropped off where they will, hopefully, eventually find noggins and necks to keep warm this winter.  

I'm seriously liking those scarves with the furry pom poms - I may have to make one for myself this winter.  😉

To see what other YOPers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

2018 Stash-busting progress:  48.73/ 100 skeins

The final stretch...

Super short and sweet this week -  this is the last of the teaser pictures.    

Finishing up some knitting (seriously loving these self-striping yarns for knitting hats):

 The above is Vanna's Choice Tapestry yarn in the colorway, Brazil

 This red/gray striped yarn is Deborah Norville Everyday yarn in the colorway, Lava

crocheting:

My favorite hat pattern:  Stepping Texture Hat

and embellishing hats & scarves:

Finally got the hang of my Clover Pom Pom Maker 

Extra points if you can tell me what's wrong with the button above

By next weekend, the plan is to have these hats and some scarves all finished and put into the donation box - which is the first stop on their way to their final homes.

And I'm looking forward to tallying up the yarn stash I've used.  I may have finally made up for buying all that pretty colorful thread over a month ago.  😉

To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Doilies and hats...

I missed my YOP buddies last weekend, but we were enjoying a bit of traveling.  First on the docket was taking our middle son some furniture.  It was so good to see him (and a little kitten he had recently adopted 😊).  When we considered that once we got to his place, we were nearly half-way to friends in Michigan, we made plans to visit them, too.  It was a fun, if rainy, weekend and we caught up with each other, laughed 'till we couldn't catch our breath, and went to bed a lot earlier than we used to.  Somehow we'd all gotten older in the years since we last saw each other...

Because our friends had recently moved into a new house, it occurred to me that some doilies might make a nice little housewarming gift for my girlfriend.  I decided to give her the autumn colored Summer Splendor I made a few weeks ago, and I got busy making two more. 

I made another Winter's Breath Doily, this time in a gray color of Artiste thread called Coin:

I know it pretty much looks white in a photograph, but it's actually a nice shade of gray.

And I had been admiring this small doily called Octoberfest, but I knew I wanted to make it in a red color because I think it looks kind of Christmas-y:

The outer edge looks darker than the center, but it's all the same color (called Jam) of Artiste thread.

The doilies were a hit, and I can't believe I haven't tired of making them.  So stay tuned!

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Doilies may have to get in line, though because wanting to make some hats for a hat/scarf drive coming up in early October, I'm finally getting a little more focused on that.  This year, I'm adding knitted hats to my crocheted ones.

First, a crocheted one - called Stepping Texture:

This is an easy pattern that can be made to fit any size head and with any size yarn as long as one starts the body with a stitch count that is a multiple of 5.  I made several of these last year and I'm happy to say it's a pretty enjoyable pattern. 

As far as knitting goes...  while I'm eyeing some colorwork patterns, at the moment I'm still practicing knitting in the round by making simple stockinette-stitched hats, but playing around with different yarns:

I love the Premier Sweet Roll yarn these are knitted in (colorway is Black Pepper Swirl).  I find it very easy to work with.

While I love the Sweet Roll yarn, I did begin to get tired of gray, so I went digging for something brighter.  This lone skein of Willow Wash  yarn in the colorway, Cherry Heather fit the bill:

Pom poms will be added to some of my hats later.  Or not.  I'll figure that out after I've made more and if I decide to crown any with poms, I will do it assembly line style.

And that's all from me this week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Bethlehem stars and tiny baby hats...

Guess what.  No squares this week!   It wasn't my intention to give no attention to my Last Dance blanket, but when I saw these Bethlehem Stars posted to Ravelry early in the week I just had to make some.

The first one I made with Stylecraft Batik:

It turned out cute, but a bit floppy made with mostly 80% acrylic, 20% wool DK yarn.  A little spray starch just before steam-blocking helped, though.

Then, remembering that I was wanting to make a project for the December Red Heart Lovers CAL, I got the idea to use my Aunt Lydia, size 3 crochet thread.  Coats and Clark produces both Red Heart and Aunt Lydia's threads and somehow that makes Aunt Lydia products eligible for using for the Red Heart Lovers CALs.  So I guess maybe the CALs are actually sponsored by Coats and Clark.  I don't totally understand how all that works, I just participate because it's a great group of people.

Unfortunately, the colors are limited in this size thread, but for some reason I was attracted to the red and brown. I decided to crochet one double-stranded.  Can you see the mistake I made?

I crocheted two rows of the red and tan color on only two points (the two points on the right side of the picture).  Starching, steaming and stretching helped, but it makes me a little nutty knowing I did that and didn't even take a good look at it until after I had woven in all the ends.

Then I wondered what the stars would look crocheted with just single a strand of each color:

Actually, I think might like them better. Though I'm not sure about the tan color.  It turns these a bit too...  I don't know...  rustic, maybe?  For my liking anyway.  They are a little smaller than the first one (they are between 4 1/2 and 5 inches from point to point).

By the way, all I did to "block" these was spray some starch on them, work the starch into the fabric and lay them to dry.  I steamed them for good measure, but I didn't need to pin them at all - and they dried just perfect.  Ready to hang.

Then I wondered what would happen if I added pink to the red and brown.  Remember, my choices are pretty limited here.

Hmmm...   I kind of like these colors together  Maybe a garland of these would be fun?

I'm honestly not sure what I'll do with these stars, but they are seriously addicting to make.  Something tells me I haven't made my last one yet.    As is, these would make nifty Christmas tree ornaments, or as I said, I think they'd make a fun garland.  I just don't have a place to put a garland of red and pink stars...

I would have kept making stars, but I remembered late in the week I was supposed to host a CAL in the Our Happy CAL Place on Ravelry this weekend.  The theme this week is Charity, so I set myself to making a baby hat.  This tiny Knot Hat measures only 10 1/2 inches in circumference:

But I ask you...  is there baby head anywhere that is that small?  I know I've lost all perspective on the sizes of baby heads, but I'm thinking this is surely too small - even for most preemies.  Also, the pattern said to slip stitch around the edge.  That was a huge mistake, but I didn't realize it until my ends were all woven in and snipped.  The edge of the hat is so very small and the slip stitch edge makes it not stretchy - at all.   I'm afraid if someone actually managed to get this on a baby's head, it might not ever come off.   

So I'm thinking this hat is a fail.  But before I try it again, let me ask...  is this top knot style even cute anymore?  If you never thought it was cute, spare me, but if you once thought it was, or if you think it still passes for a cutie-pie baby hat, I'd like to know before I summon up the gumption to make another, bigger one.  That long skinny tube that makes the topknot was actually the hardest part to crochet.   I love the idea of something on top and since embellishments on charity hats are discouraged, a little flair that's part of the "fabric" feels like a fun thing.

Since the hat above was a disappointment and took longer than I wanted to spend on a second one, I tried another pattern. I had had success with the Snowfall Slouchy this autumn, and I figured I could size it down for a newborn.    I kind of love how it turned out:

And I love how the snowflakes look like little hearts.

This hat is only about 11 inches around, but the ribbing stretches.  I love the top knot on the hat above, but this second hat was a more satisfying finish.  I'm not sure I'm really up to making more hats this year, but this pattern is definitely a keeper.

And that's all she wrote!

To see what other YOPPERS are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Hats For Kids...

As of today, I declare my hat factory officially closed.  I don't know if 17 hats is a good number to have made in the last four weeks, or if it's a ridiculous number, but this is what I've got to show for my crocheting efforts over the last month.

Washed and dried, these hats are super soft and if they find the right heads to fit, they ought to keep some kiddos warm come winter.

I know I shared a couple of the patterns here when I first made them, but I thought I'd share all the patterns - in one place this time.  Clicking on the pictures will take you to my Ravelry project page, that will have any notes I made, as well as a link to the designer's page.  Clicking on the links in the text below the pictures will take you to a video tutorial of each hat.

The Divine Hat was probably the easiest and quickest to make, and of course I love it for that reason alone.  Because the pattern produces a hat on the large side, though, I had to tweak it a bit to get it kid-size.  Basically, I just continued with 3 dc shells, instead of enlarging to 4 dc shells where the pattern instructs, and if necessary, I switched to a smaller hook when I worked the ribbing (or started with a smaller hook if I was wanting a hat significantly smaller).   An easy hat with a ribbing that doesn't stretch as much as the others I did, but cute all the same.

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Then there was the Snowfall Slouchy.  I'm not sure how much mine will slouch, but I loved how these turned out.  The size can be adjusted by creating a larger or smaller ribbing, and when beginning the hat portion, just make sure that the starting number of stitches (the stitches that transition from the ribbing to the hat portion) is a multiple of 4. 

A note on how to get the correct starting number of stitches...   After connecting the ends of my ribbing by slip stitching them together (into the back loop only), I did a round of sc's around the top edge of the ribbing with the same yarn I made the ribbing with.   I strive to get the right multiple of stitches on this round by using increase or decrease sc stitches.  Then, if changing colors, I do so with the first round of dc's, and if I didn't hit the correct multiple on my sc round, I have a second chance to get that right on the dc round.

I should mention that I love how the designer made these ribbings - watch her instructions carefully as it's  little different from other crocheted ribbings I've made.  I love it  because it makes very nice edge.   This became my go-to pattern for creating a ribbing on the rest of the hats that were made from the bottom up.

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It was when making the Snowfall Slouchy hat, I discovered the Puppy Love Heart Slouchy - made by the same designer - Bethany Dearden.  This can be crocheted in any size - crochet sc's around the top of ribbing in multiples of 6 (I think).  I love how these turned out, but there is a lot of openness to this pattern, and I wasn't sure how warm and dry of a hat that would make, so I only made two of these before deciding to move on to a new pattern.

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I think my favorite pattern was the Stepping Textures Hat.  The written pattern and video tutorial demonstrate how to make one of these with chunky yarn, but these can be made with any size yarn as long as one starts with a base number that is a multiple of 5.  And, again, I made a ribbing like Bethany Dearden demonstrates in her tutorial  - as opposed to the slip stitch ribbing this pattern calls for. Note: the slip stitch ribbing is wonderfully stretchy, but it's tedious to make.  More tedious than I have patience for.

The pictures below may not show every single hat, and may even show a duplicate or two, but this is what my month of hats looks like:

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And I almost forgot -  After some disappointing attempts at making sturdy pom-poms, I searched for a way to make pom-poms that don't pull apart, and looky what someone came up with:

Try it!  It works pretty well!  All of the pom poms on the hats above are made using this technique.  So much for my fancy-schmancy Clover pom-pom makers!

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And that would be all she wrote, but I want to invite anyone who might be interested to join in a Last Dance CAL in the Our Happy CAL group on Ravlery.  We're just getting started, so you can get in on it from the beginning if you like!

I'm making a Last Dance in the Clouds blanket and here's the first square I made last night:

The CAL will run through the end of the year with weekly installments and links to video tutorials (I think), and even a prize each month for some lucky participants.   Come join the fun!

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Lookin' like a hat factory here...

For a change of pace from making hats, I crocheted a pretty sunflower "doily" yesterday:

Made with Peaches & Cream worsted-weight cotton in the colors brown and gold, I made mine a few rows larger than the designer's and it measures about 9.5 inches across.

If you're interested in making your own, here is the video tutorial I used:

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Otherwise, it's still looking a bit like a hat factory around here!

These...

are gathering and awaiting their final trimming in order to be added to these:

I think I'll make just a few more hats this week and then I'll wrap up this endeavor.  At the moment, I have 13 hats crocheted and while it's tempting to set a specific goal, I think I'll just be done when I'm done.  And I think I'll be done next Sunday.  ;^)

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Snowfall Slouchy...

A busy Sunday came and went and I was mildly inclined to skip this week's Year of Projects' post, but at the same time I wanted to show what I'm currently working on.  So here I am - even if a day late.

It's nothing fancy, or anything, but here are the latest hats I've crocheted for donating to a hats (gloves and scarves) drive for kids that will be happening in a month or so:

The pattern is called Snowfall Slouchy Hat by Bethany Dearden.  While you can find the pattern for free at the link above, Bethany has some excellent  video tutorials of several hats she's designed and I highly recommend them.  Here is the video I used to make these hats.

I'll be making more of these Snowfall Slouchy Hats and I think I'm going to try at least one other of her hat designs before I wrap up my hat-making endeavors.  I'm thinking of making a bunch of pom-poms in one session to top all of my hats, so when I next show these off, they may look a little more finished.

To see what other Yoppers are up to visit our group on Ravelry.

This and that...

This post may look like I've been really busy crocheting this week, but really what's pictured are items mostly crocheted over the last few weeks, and only needed a little work to finish.   

First, I finished a couple of Scalloped Potholders:

This is a very well-written pattern that I recommend.  These potholders are two-layered and pretty thick made with Lily's Sugar 'n Cream.  Made with a thinner cotton yarn, one layer might make a nice washcloth, though.

But I like these as potholders.  I'm thinking I might make a couple more to go with a new flowery tablecloth I recently found on clearance (at Meijer), but these two are going into my Potholders For Posterity collection.  :)

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Moving onto other things...  I'm happy to say I finally had success at making a couple of child-sized hats.

First, to go with this simple linen stitch scarf:

I finished this child-sized Divine Hat: 

And then, this weekend, I made a Stepping Texture Hat:

I found the chunky yarn too thick for making a slip-stitch ribbing that the pattern gave instructions for, so I made a ribbing using single crochets in place of slip stitches into the back loops of the row below.  Making my ribbing different from the pattern meant I also needed to adapt the beginning of the body of the hat.  It wasn't difficult, but I crocheted a row of sc's, sometimes adding sctog's until I had a total of 40 stitches I could work Rnd 1 into.  The instructions are clear and I finished this hat in just a few hours.  The stitch pattern becomes intuitive after a few rounds, and again... it's a well-written pattern that I highly recommend.

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Twist n' Shout & Leaping Stripes!

This week saw a couple of finishes:

First was my Twist 'n Shout Slouchy Hat which doesn't slouch.  I even added some extra rows at the top to try to get it to slouch, but no go.  Maybe my head's just big. I don't know...   It fits fine, it just isn't long enough to "slouch".  But that's okay, I like it anyway - the stitch pattern is fun, and wasn't hard at all to make.   The slip stitch ribbing, on the other hand, was tedious to crochet, but it turned out nice and stretches great.

 

I made the pom pom with some low-pile fake fur.  I like the pom, but I'm thinking since pom poms are usually more fluffy, I may use the rest of the fur for some other project (as opposed to making more poms for more hats).   Though I have no idea what I would want to make with it now.  Fake fur is seriously messy to work with.  I had no idea. 

The yarn used for the hat is Red Heart Soft in the color Berry.

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I also finished my Leaping Stripes and Blocks Blanket.  I made mine toddler or child-sized measuring at 38" x 48".

This is a great pattern - easy to do, and creates a fun design when using three or more colors.  And the truly genius part is that if using no more than three colors, the yarn can be carried up the side and then covered up by the border.  Very few ends to weave in!

The yarn is Deborah Norville Everyday in Orchid and White, and Red Heart Soft in Plummy.  

We had a good Thanksgiving at brother-in-law's on Thursday.   He ordered several pasta dishes from Olive Garden and everyone else pitched in with appetizers, sides and desserts.  It was a yummy, non-traditional treat.  And Friday night our three sons came over for a "shrimp fest".    Middle son cooked up his version of Shrimp Scampi on the stove-top, while I put together a baked dish of garlic shrimp. Mmmmmm...  it was all sooo good.   And then, with full tummies, we played games.  Always a new game to play with these fellas.  Oldest son introduced us to Nefarious.   It was fun, but it took me two whole rounds to grasp it well enough to not need constant help.  My thinker doesn't fire as fast as it used to.  Or maybe it's just my imagination that it ever fired fast at all.

To see what other Yoppers are up to, visit our thread on Ravelry.